Media content delivery system and method

ABSTRACT

One or more wireless networks operate to provide wireless connectivity to a network server that runs an application that operates to deliver content to a mobile communication device that is either moving around a building interior or moving around in the open air. The mobile communication device has functionality that determines is rate of motion and functionality that allows it to determine its geographic location. The rate of motion and the geographic location can be sent to the application running on the network server and used to determine what type of content is appropriate to deliver to the mobile communication device.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The application claims priority to and is a divisional of co-owned,co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/048,543, filed Feb. 19,2016, and entitled MEDIA CONTENT DELIVERY SYSTEM AND METHOD, the entirecontents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to the delivery of mediacontent based upon a location and movement of a mobile communicationdevice, and particularly to the delivery of content in a location thatdoes not have wireless network connectivity.

BACKGROUND

The nearly ubiquitous availability of wireless network connectivity hasrevolutionized the manner in which information is delivered to mobilecommunication devices. As a consequence, information of interest can nowbe delivered in real-time to users of mobile communication devices whereand when it is most useful. The current generation of mobile computerapplications can operate in conjunction with geographic positioningsystems (GPS) to deliver information or media content that is relevantto the current location of a mobile communications device. Such mobilecomputer applications can continually monitor the geographic position ofthe mobile communication device on which it is running, send thisposition information over a wireless connection to a networked serverwhich can then deliver information to the mobile communication devicethat is relevant to the current geographic position of the device andwhich may be of interest to the device user.

Generally with reference to FIG. 1, different wireless networktechnologies have been developed to fulfill different needs. Wide areawireless network technology, such as cellular technology, was developedto at first facilitate mobile voice communication, and then later wasextended to deliver data and media information. Mobile access tocellular signals largely depends on strategically positioning enoughcellular antennas in a geographic area to provide full coverage. Whilecellular signals propagate freely outside buildings, they do notnecessarily propagate to the interior of certain types of buildings. So,in order to provide wireless access to networks on the interior of abuilding, local area wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi and DECT, havebeen developed that can be used for voice and data communication, andfor the sending and receiving of various other types of media content.

With the proliferation of wireless connectivity to networks that permitsaccess to information stored in association with computational devices(i.e., servers) connected to these networks, a very large number ofapplications (mobile applications) are being developed that arecompatible to run on mobile communication devices. During the time thata mobile device is connected to a wireless network, a user of the deviceis able to search for and down-load information that they are interestedin and which is germane to their current geographic location. At somepoint, network developers and mobile communication developers realizedthat by implementing geographic positioning system (GPS) functionalityin a mobile communication device, they could easily track the currentlocation of a mobile device, and use this current location as the basisfor identifying information to be delivered to the mobile device. Suchlocation based information delivery applications can be configured torequest or pull location dependent content from a network, or they canbe configured to automatically accept certain type of information thatis of interest to the device user. Regardless of the method, thedelivery of information to a mobile device based upon the currentlocation of that device was a step forward in the development of mobileapplications.

In addition to adding location tracking functionality to mobilecommunication devices, wireless communication device developers found itbeneficial to implement functionality in these devices that detectsdevice motion and orientation. This functionality is typicallyimplemented with an accelerometer, and the output of an accelerometercan be used to re-orient information that is displayed on a mobiledevice screen so that the user is not forced to re-orient the device inorder to easily view the information.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing several wireless networks that supportconnectivity between a mobile communication device and a server.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing elements comprising a local wireless networkwith full interior building coverage and its connection to a wide areanetwork.

FIG. 3 is a diagram that is similar to FIG. 2A, but showing partiallocal wireless network coverage.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing wireless network coverage limited to a lobbyarea and with active beacons.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing no indoor wireless network coverage withless than 100% active beacon coverage.

FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate the different types of media content that canbe delivered to a mobile communication device for display.

FIG. 7A is a diagram showing functional blocks comprising of a server26.

FIG. 7B is diagram illustrating the structure of an object location map71.

FIG. 7C is a diagram showing the functional blocks comprising a devicelocator function 72.

FIG. 7D is a diagram showing the functional blocks comprising a devicemovement function 73.

FIG. 7E is a diagram showing the functional blocks comprising a contentstore and selection module 75.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the functional blocks comprising a mobilecommunication device 27.

FIG. 9 illustrates the format of and information comprising an instanceof content.

FIGS. 10A and 10B is a flow diagram illustrating the operation ofcontent delivery logic running on either or both of the server 26 andthe mobile communication device 27.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While delivering information to a mobile computer application (mobileapplication) running on a mobile communication device (mobile device)based upon the current location of the device is a convenient means forthe device user to receive and consume the information, deliveringinformation in this manner does not make any allowance for the wirelessnetwork environment in which the mobile application is operating, anddoes not consider the current or recent history of mobile devicemovement prior to delivering the information. If a mobile device iscurrently located in an environment or a location in which it is notable to connect to a wireless network, this location is for all intentsand purposes an dead spot with respect to the delivery of information ofinterest to the user, and as a consequence, the information is not ableto be delivered to the user for display in a timely manner or at all.Further, current information delivery methods make no allowance for thespeed with which a mobile communication device moves through itsenvironment when delivering information. In the event that a mobiledevice is moving rapidly, such as in a vehicle, it is not convenient, orsafe, for a user of the device to view certain types of information,such as textual, still image, or video type information. But under thesame circumstances it may be convenient (and safer) for audioinformation to be delivered to the mobile application to be heard by theuser. On the other hand, if a user of a mobile communication device iswalking, then it may be convenient for them to receive information thatis other than only audio, such as still pictures or video type content.

While access to a wireless network is nearly ubiquitous geographically,it is problematical to provide wireless connectivity in certain types ofenvironments. As described earlier in the background section, thiswireless coverage problem is largely the result of the environment inwhich a wireless network is operating.

In order to deliver information that both relates to a particularsubject and is of an appropriate type, and in order to deliver thisinformation to locations that do not have wireless connectivity, it wasdiscovered that if the current position of a mobile communication deviceis known, or if a future geographic position can be predicted, it ispossible to control the subject matter of the information that isdelivered to a mobile application, and it is also possible to controlthe type of information that is delivered to the mobile applicationbased upon the rate of movement of the mobile communication device.Further, in the event it is determined that, based upon a recent patternof movement, the mobile communication device will move into an area thatdoes not provide wireless network connectivity (dead zone), informationthat is relevant to the area corresponding to the dead zone can bedelivered to the mobile application prior to loosing wireless networkconnectivity, and this information can be displayed by the mobileapplication to the user at a time during which the device is proximateto a position that corresponds to a subject matter that corresponds toat least some of the information that is delivered. Hereinafter, theinformation that is delivered to the mobile application is referred toas media content or simply content, and the different types of formatsof media content (content) can be any combination of one or more of, butare not limited to, audio content, still image content, video content,textual content in varying quantities or amounts for delivery to themobile application over longer or shorter periods of time and at higheror lower quality.

According to one embodiment, the mobile application operatingenvironment is the interior of a building, such as a museum, but inother embodiments, the mobile application can operate in an environmentthat is open to the air. The environment in which the mobile applicationis running is not important to its operation, it is only important thatthe rate of movement of the mobile device on which the mobileapplication is running can be determined, and that a current or pastgeographic location can be determined. While the mobile applicationdescribed herein operates to deliver content associated with a guidedmuseum tour, it should be understood that the operation of the mobileapplication is not limited to a guided tour or to a tour correspondingto subject matter located in the interior of a building. But the mobileapplication can be configured to deliver other than museum content andit can be configured to deliver content based upon movement and currentlocation of the mobile device while it is open to the air.

FIG. 2 generally illustrates a communication network topology that canbe used to deliver content to a mobile application running on a mobiledevice 27 under the control of an individual who is touring a Museum 24.A portion of the communication network topology is located external tothe Museum and is comprised of a server 26 that is connected to twotypes of wide area networks, one type of which is a wired network(Internet 20) and the other one of which is a wireless network (cellularnetwork 22). The interior of the Museum 24 is divided into a number ofseparate rooms or galleries, Gallery A, Gallery B, Gallery C, andGallery D, and an individual with a mobile communication device 27 isillustrated to be walking around the Museum. The interior space of theMuseum is served by a wireless LAN network 23 (The interior of theMuseum can also be served by the cellular network as well) that isconnected to the Internet 20, and is comprised of a router and fourwireless access points, labeled AP.1-AP.4, one in each gallery. Eachgallery also has at least one beacon, and these beacons are labeledB.1-B.4 for gallery A, B, C, and D respectively. The wireless LAN can beimplemented with any type of suitable wireless network technology, suchas Wi-Fi or DECT technology, and the beacons are wireless devices thattransmit a low powered signal into their environment that uniquelyidentifies each beacon. Each beacon can be configured to have a uniqueidentifier, and it can be placed in a known position in the Museum andused as part of a system to determine a current position of the mobiledevice 27. While each gallery in the Museum is shown to have only onebeacon, there can be more than one beacon placed in each gallery whichhas the advantage of allowing an interior positioning system todetermine, with some degree of accuracy, the current geographic positionof a mobile communication device in the interior of the Museum, andwhile each gallery is shown to have one access point, there is no needto position an access point inside a gallery, or inside each gallery, asthese access points only need to be located strategically in theinterior of the museum to provide full wireless connectivity. While theinterior positioning system described above employs a plurality ofbeacons to operate, other interior GPS systems can also be employed.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 2, the mobile communication device 27 isunder control of the individual or user who is walking around theMuseum, and the device 27 is running a mobile application (fullapplication or thin client) that generally operates to display contentcomprising subject matter relating to each object on display in theMuseum. The subject matter comprising the content that is displayed tothe user depends upon the current position of the device 27 in theMuseum, and this content can be presented to the device 27 user inseveral different formats or types, and the type of content displayeddepends upon a current or history of the device 27 movement through theMuseum. As described earlier, the different types of formats of mediacontent (content) can be any combination of one or more of, but are notlimited to, audio content, still image content, video content, textualcontent in varying quantities or amounts for delivery to the mobileapplication over longer or shorter periods of time and at higher orlower quality. As the mobile device 27 moves to a position that isproximate to an object in the Museum, content relevant to that objectcan be delivered by a server 26 to the mobile device 27 via an accesspoint connected to the wireless LAN 23 or via the cellular network 22,and the type of content that is delivered depends upon the rate at whichthe device 27 moves through the Museum. This rate of movement can be aninstantaneous or current rate of movement, it can represent a history ofrecent movement, or a combination of current and historical movement.The history of a first individual's movement through the Museum can bestored in the server 26, and used to control the delivery of content tothat individual the next time they tour the Museum, or it can be used tocontrol the delivery of content to another, second individual, who isfriendly with the first individual, so that the second individual canshare in the first individual's museum experience.

Typically, and provided that the mobile device 27 has adequateconnectivity to the LAN 23 or to the cellular network 22, the server 26is able to deliver the appropriate type of content to the mobileapplication running on the device 27 as needed and in a timely manner.However, in the case that the wireless LAN 23 or cellular network 22does not provide full coverage to one or more galleries in the Museum,then it is not always possible to deliver content to the device 27 in atimely manner. FIG. 3 illustrates the same Museum 24 as described withreference to FIG. 2, with the same galleries, same beacons and withaccess points in all of the galleries except Gallery C. Under thesecircumstances, and provided there is no connectivity to the cellularnetwork, it is not possible for the device 27 to receive content fromthe server 26 after it has entered Gallery C. However, and according toone embodiment, the server 26 has functionality that can anticipate themovement of the device into an area that is not served by a wirelessnetwork, which in this case is Gallery C, and the functionality canoperate to deliver the content prior to the device 27 entering GalleryC. So, for example, if the mobile device is currently moving throughGallery B, and based upon this movement the server 26 functionalitydetermines that the mobile device will probably move into Gallery C,then the server can deliver content relating to objects on display inGallery C while the mobile device is still positioned in Gallery B. Thecontent that is delivered can be of one particular type, or it can becomprised of multiple different types of content. In the case that thedevice 27 exhibits a regular rate of movement between galleries andbetween paintings in the galleries, it may only be necessary to delivera type of content that corresponds to this type of movement. But in thecase where the rate of movement is irregular, several different types ofcontent for each painting (or other object on display) may be deliveredto the mobile application. Then, the appropriate type of content can bedelivered according to the current rate of movement of the mobile device27.

Referring now to FIG. 4, in the event that connectivity to a wirelessnetwork (either LAN or cellular) is limited to a lobby area located in abuilding's interior, or there is no availability to wireless service,the server 26 can deliver all of the content relating to objects ondisplay as the mobile device 27 moves into the Museum lobby, or theserver 26 can deliver the content over a cellular connection prior tothe mobile device entering the Museum. Regardless of the network used todeliver the content, the mobile application running on the mobile device27 can operate to display the appropriate type of content depending uponthe mobile device's location in the Museum and the rate at which themobile device is moving about the Museum. Now, considering that thewireless LAN 23 topology in FIG. 5 is the same as in FIG. 4, but thereare no beacons in Gallery C, the mobile application running on themobile device 26 can operate to anticipate the movement of the mobiledevice from Gallery B to Gallery C and display the appropriate contentat a time that a beacon signal in Gallery B falls below some thresholdsignal strength.

As described earlier, regardless of the wireless network over which themobile device 27 receives media content, the subject matter comprisingthe content that is delivered to the mobile application running on themobile device 27 depends upon the currently known position or ananticipated future position of the mobile device 27, and the type ofcontent delivered depends upon the current and/or history of the rate ofmovement of the mobile device 27 through a building interior, such asthe Museum 24, or through an open air environment. The type of contentthat is delivered to the mobile application can change from one galleryto another, or it can change during time spent in one gallery, or thetype of content delivered may not change depending upon the current rateof movement of the mobile device 27 or the past history of movement ofthe device 27. For example, and referring back to FIG. 2, if anindividual is walking from Gallery A to Gallery B at a relatively lowrate of speed, the type of content that can be delivered to the mobileapplication as the individual enters Gallery B can be of relatively highquality with respect to pixel density, correctness of color, or someother criteria, and it can be in a relatively long format (i.e., moretext or audio, better/larger image, etc.), On the other hand, if theindividual is walking from Gallery A to Gallery B at a relatively fastrate of speed, then the type of content that can be delivered to themobile application as the individual enters Gallery B can be ofrelatively lower quality. In this case, the content can be delivered ina shortened form that can include audio content, no image, and no textfor instance.

Additionally, the rate of movement proximate to an object on display atthe Museum can determine what type of content can be delivered to themobile application. If it is determined that the mobile device 27 spendsmore than some selected threshold period of time (lingers) in aparticular location, then the type of content that is delivered caninclude more detail (more text, more audio, more pictures, artistbiography, etc.), and the content can continue to be delivered to themobile application for as long as the device 27 lingers proximate to thelocation. The methods which can be employed to determine lingering time,as well as any other movement, will be described later with reference toFIGS. 7 & 8.

FIGS. 6A to 6 d illustrate the different types of content that can bedisplayed by the mobile application on the mobile device 27 screen. Inthis case, the mobile device 27 is currently located in Museum ABC inGallery A, and is proximate to a painting by Rembrandt entitled “TheNight Watch”. FIG. 6A represents content that can be delivered to themobile application if it is determined that the mobile device 27 ismoving relatively slowly through the Museum ABC. In the context of thisdescription, a rate at which the mobile device 27 is moving is onlyquantified as a relative value. While an accelerometer operating inconjunction with the device 27 is able to measure an absolute rate ofmovement, and this measured, absolute rate of movement can be used todetermine if the device 27 is currently moving faster or slower than inthe past, there may or may not be any universal correspondence betweenan absolute, measured rate of motion and the type of content that isdelivered. For example, an individual using the device 27 can be movingmore or less rapidly between paintings and spending quite a bit of timelingering at each painting or not. The rate at which each individualwalks can be different, and the amount of time any particular individuallingers at a painting varies. The mobile application can learn thewalking and lingering habits of each individual, and adjust the rate ofmotion to coincide with the delivery of a particular type of content.Prior to receiving the content that is displayed in FIG. 6A, the mobiledevice 27 is moving relatively slowly, both between galleries andbetween paintings, and the individual using the device 27 is lingeringfor a relatively long period of time at each painting. In this case, ahi-quality, full size image of Rembrandt's painting is delivered to themobile application along with a long form text description of thepainting.

Referring to FIG. 6B, it can be seen that the mobile applicationdisplays a relatively smaller image of similar quality with respect tothe image displayed in FIG. 6A. This image is displayed along with ashorter form text description of the painting with respect to the textdisplayed in FIG. 6A. In this case, the mobile device 27 can be movingmore rapidly between galleries or between paintings in a gallery thanwith respect to the movement detected in FIG. 6A, or they can belingering at each painting for a relatively shorter period of time withrespect to the lingering time detected in FIG. 6A. FIG. 6C illustratesthe type of content delivered if it is determined that the mobile device27 is moving at a rate that is relatively faster and/or lingering for ashorter period of time with respect to the movement detected withreference to FIG. 6B. In this case, only textual information isdisplayed with no image of the painting. Then, in FIG. 6D, it can beseen that only audio type content is delivered to be played by themobile application. In this case, the device 27 is detected to be movingrelatively rapidly and so a minimum amount of content is beingdelivered.

FIG. 7A is a diagram illustrating functional blocks implemented in acontent delivery module 70 comprising the server 26 described withreference to FIG. 2. This module 70 operates to deliver content to amobile application running on a mobile device, such as the mobile device27. The timing of and the type of content delivered to the mobile devicedepends upon a current known or predicted future location of the mobiledevice, the current rate of movement or past history of movement of themobile device, and it depends upon whether or not the mobile device isable to establish a network connection with to the server 26. Thecontent delivery module 70 maintains a Museum object location map 71that relates a listing of some or all of the of objects on display atthe Museum 24 to physical locations in the Museum, it has a locatorfunction 72 that is comprised of a GPS function, indoor positioningsystem functionality, and a listing of mobile devices currentlyconnected to the server 26, it has a device movement function 73, it hasa network connectivity map 74, and it has a content storage andselection module 75.

The museum object location map 71 includes a listing of the identitiesof some or all of the objects on display in the museum 24, and itincludes the identity of one or more beacons that are located proximateto each object. According to one embodiment, one beacon is positionedproximate to each object on display in the Museum, and so the locationof the object is determined by the identity of that beacon. According toanother embodiment, one or more beacons are positioned proximate to eachobject, and so the location of each object in the museum is determinedby beacon signal strength measurements. Signal strength measurementsreceived from one or more beacons proximate to each displayed object canbe recorded and entered into the map in association with that object. Asdescribed earlier, each beacon is assigned a unique identifier that eachbeacon periodically or continually transmits in a low power signal. Adevice that is configured to receive a beacon signal can determine theidentity of each beacon using this unique identifier, and by detecting abeacon signal strength is able to determine how far the object is fromeach of one or more beacons. This information is then stored in the mapin association with the object that is positioned proximate to thelocation in which the beacon signal strength is recorded. It should beunderstood, that while the embodiment described herein uses beacontechnology as means to determine an interior location, other interiorlocation systems can also be employed for this purpose.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 7A, the mobile device locator function 72operates to determine either or both of a current interior location anda current exterior location of a mobile device, such as the mobiledevice 27, and it detects and maintains a listing of the mobile devicesthat are currently connected to the server 26. Depending upon thecorrespondence of beacons to displayed objects (one beacon proximate toone object or multiple beacons proximate to one object), the function 72can receive information that uniquely identifies a particular beacon, orit can received signal strength information corresponding to multiplebeacons as measured by a mobile device, such as the mobile device 27.The locator function 72 can use this beacon identity or signal strengthinformation to determine the current interior location of the mobiledevice, and then store this location. The function 72 can also receiveGPS location information from the mobile device and store thisinformation.

The device movement function 73 operates to receive informationgenerated by an accelerometer from a mobile device that corresponds to acurrent rate of movement of the mobile device. This current movementinformation can be stored and used by logic comprising a content storemodule 75 to determine what type of content to deliver to the mobiledevice. The movement function 73 can also receive information from thelocator function 72 that corresponds to how much time is spent at anyparticular location in the museum, such as the time spend proximate toan object (lingering time) on display. A Network connectivity map 74maintains information relative to locations in the Museum at whichconnectivity to a wireless network (either or both of a wireless LAN orCellular network) is available. In this regard, the availability ofconnectivity to a wireless network can be maintained relative to eachgallery in the Museum, within each gallery in the Museum, betweengalleries in the Museum or at any level of granularity that thatfacilitates the delivery of content to the mobile application.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 7A, a content store and selection module 75maintains a plurality of instances of content, and each instance ofcontent is included in a separate file that corresponds to informationcorresponding to a particular object on display at the Museum. Eachinstance of content can be stored in several different forms, each ofwhich represents a different content type. In addition to the instanceof content, the content store and selection module 75 has logic thatselects, based upon the current mobile device location, rate of movementand network connectivity, an instance of content and an associated typeof content that is delivered to the mobile device.

FIGS. 7B, 7C, 7D and 7E illustrate in more detail the elementscomprising the object location map 71, the device locator function 72,the device movement function 74, and the content store and selectionmodule 75. Turning now to a description of the object location map 71shown with reference to FIG. 7B, this map maintains a listing of beaconsin the Museum and the unique identity of each beacon. According to oneembodiment, a single beacon is positioned proximate to one object ondisplay in the Museum, and accordingly, there is a unique correspondencein the map between one beacon and one object on display. Informationmaintained in this map is used by content selection logic comprising thecontent deliver module 75 (described later with reference to FIG. 7E) inorder to determine which displayed object a mobile device is proximateto.

FIG. 7C illustrates the functional elements comprising the devicelocator function 72. The function 72 has a store of GPS locationinformation that the server 26 can receive from a mobile device, it hasa beacon module 78 that is comprised of a beacon identity and signalstrength detector, and a store of beacon identities and associateddetected signal strengths, and it has a listing of the mobile devicesthat are currently connected to the server 26. As a mobile devicerunning a mobile application comes into range of a signal transmitted bya particular beacon, the mobile application detects a unique identity ofthe beacon that is transmitting the signal, it detects a strength of thesignal transmitted by the beacon, and then sends this beacon identityinformation and signal strength information to a device locator function72 operating in association with the content delivery module 70 runningon the server 26. In operation, the function 72 receives GPSinformation, beacon identities and signal strengths, and the identitiesof mobile devices, and all of this information can be transmitted to theserver in signals generated by a mobile application running on a mobiledevice 26. Location information stored in function 72 can be accessed bythe content selection logic and used as a pointer into the map 71 forthe purpose of determining which object a mobile device is proximate to,and this information can be used by the logic to identify which instanceof content can be selected for delivery to a mobile device.

FIG. 7D illustrates the functional elements comprising the devicemovement function 73, which is comprised of a function that operates toprocess accelerometer information and which operates to store processedaccelerometer information. This function 73 receives rate of movementinformation from a mobile device, and it can receive current mobiledevice location information, and then process this information indifferent ways. For instance, it can calculate an average rate ofmovement of a mobile device over a selected/configurable period of timein selected Museum locations, it can calculate the period of time that amobile device lingers proximate to an object on display, it cancalculate the varying rates of movement through different galleries orbetween galleries to name only a few of the different calculationspossible given mobile device movement and location information.Accelerometer information stored by function 73 can be accessed by thecontent selection logic and used to determine what type of content canbe delivered to a mobile device.

FIG. 7E illustrates functional elements comprising the content storageand selection module 75. The module 75 has a map or structure thatrelates each object on display in the Museum to the identity of aninstance of content, which content identity in turn relates to theidentity of one or more different types of content that is stored indatabase structure (not shown). Each different type of contentassociated with an instance of content can be stored in a separate file,and each separate file can be labeled Long-Form, Medium-Form, orShort-Form. An example of a Long-Form type of content is illustratedwith reference to FIG. 9. While only three different types of contentare described here, it should be understood that fewer types or moretypes of content can be created and stored in association with themodule 75. Module 75 also has logic that operates to select theappropriate instance of content and content type for delivery to amobile device depending upon location and movement informationassociated with the mobile device. This content selection logic operateson information stored in the Museum object location map 71, the locatorfunction 72, the device movement function 73 and the networkconnectivity map 74 to determine which instance of content and what typeof content is to be delivered to a mobile device. The operation of thislogic is described later in detail with reference to FIGS. 10A and 10B.The content storage and selection module 75 also has a contenttransmission module that operates to send content to the appropriatemobile device at the appropriate time.

In one embodiment, a mobile device can connect to the server 26regardless of its position in the Museum, in this case content can bedelivered by the server to the mobile device at the point that theserver determines that the mobile device is moving to be proximate to anobject on display in the Museum. In an alternative embodiment in whichthe mobile device moves to a location in the Museum where it is not ableto connect to the server, then the server 26 can operate to anticipatethis movement into an area without wireless connectivity to the server,and deliver the appropriate content to the mobile device for storagebefore the mobile device loses connectivity with the server. In thelater embodiment, the mobile application running on the mobile devicecan determine the current location of the mobile device and displaycontent that is appropriate to that location. The mobile applicationrunning on the mobile device 27 will now be described with reference toFIG. 8.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing functional elements comprising themobile communication device 27 that has been referred to earlier. Device27 generally is comprised of the mobile application referred topreviously which is labeled here as mobile application 80, and it isalso comprised of application functionality 86 that is native to themobile device 26. This native application functionality can include, butis not limited to, a wireless transceiver or radio that operates to sendand receive wireless messages to and from a wireless network to which itis connected. The mobile application 80 is comprised of a positionlocation module 81, a device movement function 84 and a store of content85, and it generally operates to receive information from a GPS networkor an indoor positioning system, and to send this information to theserver 26 which uses this information to calculate a current position ofthe mobile device. More specifically, the position location module 81has a GPS module 82 that operates (generally when the mobile device isopen to the air) to receive signals from a GPS satellite, and useinformation in this signal to calculate a current geographic position ofthe mobile device. The position location module also has a beacon module83 that generally operates to receive beacon signals and determine theidentity of the beacon that sent the signal, and to determine thecurrent beacon signal strength, and the beacon ID and signal strengthcan be sent to the server 26 that uses this information to determine thecurrent location of the mobile device. Alternatively, if the mobiledevice is currently not connected to the server 26 (due to no wirelessnetwork connectivity), then the position location module 81 can useinformation it receives from a beacon to calculate a current position ofthe mobile device.

Continuing to refer to FIG. 8, the device movement function has anaccelerometer, a movement processing function and a store of movementhistory. The accelerometer generally operates to detect a rate ofmovement or rate of change of movement of the mobile device 27 as itmoves (is carried) around the Museum. Information indicative of movementgenerated by the accelerometer is sent to the server 26 where theinformation is used to calculate a current rate of movement.Alternatively, in the event that the mobile device is not currentlyconnected to a wireless network, the function 84 can process theaccelerometer information to determine a current rate of movement of themobile device and store this information in a movement history. Thecontent store 85 generally operates to receive content from the server26, and this content can then be displayed at an appropriate timedepending upon the current position of the mobile device. The contentstore 85 can maintain one or more instances of content depending uponinformation in the connectivity map 74 stored on the server 26 anddepending upon the current location of the mobile device. If the server26 determines from the current location of the mobile device and fromthe recent history of movement that the mobile device is moving from aMuseum location that provides wireless connectivity to another locationthat provides wireless connectivity, then it can deliver content as itis needed to the device as it moves through the galleries. On the otherhand, if the server 26 can predict that the mobile device is moving to aMuseum location (Gallery C for instance in FIG. 3 for instance) in whichthere is no wireless connectivity, then the server can deliver contentto the mobile device in anticipation of this movement, and before themobile device loses connective with the server 26. In this case, themobile application 80 running on the mobile device 27 can operateindependently of the server 26 to display content of an appropriate typeaccording to the location of the mobile device in Gallery C, andaccording to the current rate of movement of the device (in this case,the server 26 can deliver multiple different type of content relating toeach single instance of content that is delivered to the mobile device).

The operation of the content selection logic, described with referenceto FIG. 7E, will now be describe with reference to the logical flowdiagram illustrated in FIGS. 10A and 10B. Generally, the contentselection logic or simply selection logic implemented in the selectionmodule 75 described with reference to FIG. 7E operates to determinewhich object on display in the Museum a mobile device is proximate to,and then deliver the appropriate content to the mobile device dependingupon a current motion characteristic (i.e., rate of motion) or a recentcharacteristic motion history. According to one embodiment, the timingof the delivery of the content is based upon knowledge of a wirelessnetwork connectivity topology or map. In the case that the logicdetermines that there is wireless connectivity in an area of the Museum(Gallery A in FIG. 3 for example) that the mobile device is movingtowards, then it operates to cause the appropriate content to bedelivered to the mobile device on a just-in-time basis while it ismoving through Gallery A. On the other hand, if the logic determinesthat there is no wireless network connectivity in an area of the Museum(Gallery C in FIG. 3 for example) that the mobile device is movingtowards, then it operates to cause all of the appropriate contentassociated with each of the objects on display in Gallery C to bedelivered to the mobile device before it moves into Gallery C. Operatingin this manner, this logic ensures that a mobile device is always ableto display content that is appropriate to an object it is proximate toregardless of whether the mobile device is able to connect to a wirelessnetwork or not.

Referring to FIG. 10a , in Step 1 a mobile device, such as the mobiledevice 27, enters the Museum 24 and attempts to connect to a wirelessnetwork. If, in Step 2, the mobile device is able to connect to awireless network, the process proceeds to Step 3 and the logic startslooking for a beacon identity and a beacon signal strength stored infunction 72 of the server 26. On the other hand, if in Step 2 the mobiledevice is not able to connect to a wireless network, the process loopson Step 2. If, in Step 3, if the logic detects that at least a beaconidentity (and optionally a signal strength) are stored in the locatorfunction 72, then the process proceeds to Step 4, otherwise, the processloops on Step 3 until at least a beacon ID is detected. In Step 4, thelogic uses the identity of the beacon (and optionally the signalstrength information) to determine the identity of an object on displaythat corresponds to the beacon location. In this regard, the logic usesthe beacon ID as a pointer into the map 71 to identify the identity ofan object. So, for example, if the beacon ID is B.50, then the logicenters the map or table 71 at B.50 and looks for an object that relatesto this beacon, which in this case is the object, OBJ.100. After thelogic retrieves the identity of the object, the process proceeds to Step5, and the logic determines whether or not the mobile device isproximate to the object, OBJ.100, by determining whether the beacon,B.50, signal strength value is higher than some selected thresholdvalue, and if so, then the process proceeds to Step 7 in FIG. 10B.Otherwise the process returns to Step 3.

Referring now to FIG. 10B, in Step 6 the logic uses the identity of theobject identified in Step 4, and the current location, as determined inStep 5, and the current rate of movement (stored in the device movementfunction 73) of the mobile device to determine which instance of contentand what type of content is appropriate to be delivered to the mobiledevice. In this case the instance of content associated with the object,OBJ.100, is identified. Then, depending upon the current rate ofmovement of the mobile device, the logic can select one or a short form,medium form or long form type of content for delivery to the mobiledevice. In Step 7, if the logic determines that the mobile device ismoving into an area that does not provide wireless network connectivity,then in Step 8 the logic identifies the objects in this area and in Step9 delivers the appropriate content associated with these objects to themobile device. However, if in Step 7 the logic determines that there isconnectivity, then the process proceeds to Step 10 and the contentidentified in Step 6 is delivered to the mobile device, and the processcan return to Step 2 in FIG. 10A.

The forgoing description, for purposes of explanation, used specificnomenclature to provide a thorough understanding of the invention.However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that specificdetails are not required in order to practice the invention. Thus, theforgoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the invention arepresented for purposes of illustration and description. They are notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formsdisclosed; obviously, many modifications and variations are possible inview of the above teachings. The embodiments were chosen and describedin order to best explain the principles of the invention and itspractical applications, they thereby enable others skilled in the art tobest utilize the invention and various embodiments with variousmodifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It isintended that the following claims and their equivalents define thescope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. A method of identifying an instance of media content to sendto a mobile communication device to play at a location not havingwireless network service, comprising: storing at a network computerdevice a plurality of instances of media content, each one of which isassociated with an object that is proximate to one of a plurality ofknown locations; receiving, over the wireless network from the mobilecommunication device, information indicative of a current location ofthe mobile communication device, and anticipating, based upon a currentlocation and a recent pattern of mobile communication device movement,that the mobile communication device is moving to an area that does nothave wireless network service, identifying at least one of the storedplurality of the media content instances that is associated with anobject that is proximate to one of the known locations that is withinthe area not having wireless network service, and sending the at leastone identified instance of media content to the mobile communicationdevice prior to it moving to the area not served by the wirelessnetwork; and the mobile communication device playing the at least oneidentified instance of media content sent to it when the mobilecommunication device determines that it is proximate to the object atthe one known location that is within the area not having wirelessnetwork service.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the mobilecommunication device receiving the at least one identified instance ofmedia content sent by the network computer device and playing thereceived at least one identified instance of media content when themobile communication device determines that it is proximate to thelocation not having network connectivity.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one identified instance of media content receivedat the communication device can comprise any one or more of an audiocontent type, a video content type, a textual content type, and a stillimage content type.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein a quality level ofthe at least one identified instance of media content received at thefirst mobile communication device is determined based on the current orpast history of the rate of speed of the first mobile communicationsdevice.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of the at least oneidentified instance of media content received at the first mobilecommunication device is determined based upon the current of pasthistory of the rate of speed of the first mobile communication device.